Post navigation

I have completed the “Southern Redemption” trilogy that begins with The Cast Net. The story that first emerged in The Cast Net has changed so that all three novels weave together. The Cast Net and the second novel in the trilogy, Of Sun And Rain will be released soon.

The Cast Net

Millie West gets my attention on the first page. From then on, I am turning pages to see what happened. The thing is, I never want the book to end. She has the ability to create a world that draws you in and you don’t want to leave it. The Cast Net is a “Must Read” book…Susan Reichert, Editor-in-Chief, Southern Writers Magazine.

The Cast Net Synopsis

When Mills Taylor, a talented New York advertising and public relations agent, accepts a job as the director of an educational scholarship foundation in Alston Station, a town near Charleston, South Carolina, she never imagines that her new position will launch a year of living dangerously.

Mills agrees to help after the foundation’s former director, Cooper Heath, suffers a personal tragedy. His wife is missing and some people think he made her disappear.

The Cast Net chronicles the year when Mills plunges into a socially unfamiliar world of Southern money and power in the late 1980s. As she helps Cooper cope and seek the truth behind his wife’s disappearance, she learns the deeper meaning of “the cast net” and why it’s been embraced by generations of Low Country residents. The Cast Net is a compelling and engaging novel about roots, a sense of community, trust, betrayal, redemption, and especially—love.

Of Sun and RainI fell in love with the characters Jeff and Callie in Of Sun and Rain. I was pulling for both of them and literally could not put this book down. I was mesmerized throughout the story line. Millie West truly knows how to capture a reader’s imagination and bring them into the story. Well written. Cannot wait until her next book releases…Susan Reichert, Editor-in-Chief, Southern Writers Magazine.

Of Sun and Rain Synopsis

Reeling from addiction and on the run, accused murderer, Jeff Radcliffe escapes South Carolina authorities by sailing to the U.S. Virgin Islands. In Saint John, Jeff tracks down old sailing rival, Marcel Renaud, who invites him to sail to Trinidad. En route, a storm throws the two off-course to the coast of Venezuela.

Injured at sea, Jeff recuperates in the small fishing village of Puerto San Marcos at the home of Father Gilberto, a Catholic priest. American doctor, Callie Forte treats his wounds, and senses Jeff’s desperation. But, as their relationship deepens, it’s clear that both Callie and Jeff keep dark secrets. Together, they make a plan to settle old debts and start a new life.

When Callie is abducted and held for ransom, the hunted becomes the hunter. While Jeff combs the jungle for his beloved Callie, Jeff’s cousin, Cooper, is hot on his trail, vowing to bring him to justice for his wife’s murder.

July 1930: Amelia Earhart lands her Lockheed Vega airplane in a small southern town in order to avoid severe weather. She stays at the elegant Hotel Carroll.

The stock market crash of 1929 has left many people in dire financial straits. Two destitute rascals come up with a scheme to cure their financial woes: they’ll hold Miss Earhart for ransom.

Meanwhile at the Hotel Carroll, one of the housekeepers is a huge Amelia Earhart fan. While Miss Earhart is in the ballroom attending a party in her honor, the housekeeper goes to Earhart’s room to try on her flight jacket. When she steps into the hallway to view her reflection in a full length mirror, she’s nabbed by the two kidnappers. They grabbed the wrong girl!

My screenplay, “Amelia Was Here!” is a semi-finalist at the Seattle International Film Festival. I’m thrilled to be attending again. Last year, my screenplay, “Catherine’s Cross” was an awarded script!

Thrilled! My screenplay “Amelia Was Here,” is a finalist at La Femme International Film Festival in Beverly Hills, October 18-22. I’ll be attending and on the look-out for a producer or director for my screenplays! I’m excited about networking with filmmakers! The comedy screenplay is based on Amelia Earhart’s unexpected visit to my hometown of Gaffney, SC in 1930. That much is true, but the rest is fiction!

Catherine’s Cross was chosen as an awarded screenplay at the upcoming Seattle International Film Festival to be held May 18 through June 11, 2017. I am thrilled with this opportunity and I will be attending the festival! Please check out this press release in Variety: http://variety.com/2017/film/festivals/seattle-film-festival-announces-catalyst-screenplay-prizes-1202422157/

My screenplay adaptation of Catherine’s Cross was a finalist at La Femme International Film Festival in Beverly Hills, CA, October 20-23, 2016. I mailed out over 130 invitations to movie producers, directors, and stars! I hope that film industry professionals will be interested in the screenplay.

I didn’t win the competition, but I had a wonderful time in Los Angeles. I even shook Wolfgang Puck’s hand. People in Los Angeles are so nice, and I enjoyed the learning experience!

I was thrilled to find out that both my novels, The Cast Net and Catherine’s Cross were chosen by jury to be included in the art gallery at the South Carolina Artisan’s Center inWalterboro, South Carolina. The center features the artwork of South Carolinians.

Web address:http://www.scartisanscenter.com/

SOUTH CAROLINA ARTISANS CENTER

Located near Charleston, SC, The South Carolina Artisans Center is home to the state’s most talented artists and artisans. Whether the medium be clay, metal, glass, wood fiber or film, more than 250 juried artists guarantee work of exceptional quality. Come and find South Carolina’s most unique garden sculptures, loomed shawls, hand-made jewelry, photography and sweet grass baskets.

South Carolina’s Official Folk Art and Craft Center

The South Carolina Artisans Center’s mission is to interpret, market, preserve and perpetuate the folk art and fine craftsmanship of South Carolina Artisans while creating a better understanding of our rich and diverse cultural heritage. Come see the best South Carolina has to offer in handcrafted art.

Many thanks to Beaufort, S.C’s Wilson McIntosh and his staff, Ellen and Lolita for helping me with three wonderful book signings in the past few weeks. All totaled, we sold over 80 copies of The Cast Netand Catherine’s Cross. I was thrilled to have readers ask me when my next book is coming out! (Of Sun and Rain is finished and is the second book in The Cast Net trilogy.)

I’m excited to be invited back to this wonderful book store! Thank you, Wilson!

I am looking for readers who would like to give me their opinion of the beginning of the novel I am currently working on. It is the sequel to The Cast Net and is about the redemption of a wayward character, Jeff Radcliffe. I’d love to have feedback. Please contact me at author@milliewestauthor.com I look forward to hearing from you!

I was recently invited by two wonderful authors, Deb Mangault and Jackie Madden Haugh to post a blog in a virtual tour featuring authors. We all like to get “up close and personal” with our favorite authors, learning more about them and why they do what they do. This blog is a part of a virtual blog tour that is giving us the opportunity to do just that with people we know, and introducing us to people we would like to know.

Deb Mangolt

I met Deb at the South Carolina Book Festival two years ago. Deb and I are both fortunate to have the Where Writer’s Win team of Shari Stauch and Kendra Haskins design our author websites. We were on a panel at the festival that featured some of the authors who work with the Where Writer’s Win team. We had a great time!

Deb co-authored a girlfriend oriented platform book called Drink Wineand Giggle. I have an author signed copy!

As an Event Planner and Certified Professional Coach, Deb brings her positive attitude and bubbly personality to turn family reunions, corporate events and women’s retreats into memorable and intoxicating experiences that demonstrate the power of true compassion.

Deb’s former career in corporate finance has taken her across North America from Ohio to Tennessee to Toronto and finally to Charleston, South Carolina where she resides with her husband. A devoted hospice volunteer, member of the Charleston Center for Women, and an avid golfer and runner, Deb completed the Kiawah Island Marathon in less than five hours. Check out this link:http://drinkwineandgiggle.com/personal-favorite-authors/#more-6520

Jackie Madden Haugh

I met Jackie this past spring at the PubSmart Conference in Charleston, SC. The conference designed to educate writers about publishing options was set up by guess who? Yes, theWhereWriter’s Winteam. Shari Stauch, Kendra Haskins and the rest of the team have deepened my knowledge of author marketing and the publishing industry.

Over a breakfast of shrimp and grits,(simply marvelous!) Jackie and I talked about our writing and the publishing business with my publisher, Terri Leidich, of Boutique of Quality Books. Jackie is now a Boutique of Quality Books author with her soon to be released memoir, My Life in a Tutu!

A true native of California. Born in San Francisco, on December 31, 1952, to the son of Irish, Catholic immigrants, who fled the potato famine in the late 1800′s, and the daughter of silent movie actors, circa 1915 in Hollywood. Sandwiched between three boisterous brothers, life for Jackie in her youth was anything but calm and trying to have a voice amidst the rampant testosterone and alpha-male posturing was an impossible feat for her.

With the gift of a small six-by-six diary on her tenth birthday, Jackie discovered the joy of journaling. Hiding in her room, pouring her heart and soul out on the blank pages not only gave her solace, but a friend who would listen to her thoughts, dreams and desires without any judgment.For the next forty-five years, she continued writing and in April, 2009, she self-published her first memoir, “My Life in a Tutu.” It started as a simple gift for her children, but instead morphed into something much larger. Word got out about this project in her small suburban town of Los Altos, California and to date she has sold several hundred copies there alone.

Jackie still resides in the loving home where she raised her four adult children. She continues to work in her career as a real estate agent, but devotes her spare time to her writing and her love of teaching dance to children. Currently, she is working on her next project in her series of memoirs, “Tipsy in a Tutu.” It is the hilarious story of friendship between three single woman in a world of married people.

As a part of the tour I am required to answer several questions.

1. What am I working on?

I’m writing the sequel to my first novel,The Cast Net. The book will follow the redemption of a seriously flawed character, Jeff Radcliffe. He learns a heart breaking lesson about love and relationships in this follow-up novel set in several locations across the globe. Cooper Heath and Mills Taylor Heath, the hero and heroine of The Cast Netwill also return!

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I do a great deal of historical research about an area and the people who live there,(or have lived there,) before I write. I like to intertwine my story line with historical facts. Sometimes, I create fictitious accounts in my novels, but still based on actual people or places. For instance, the setting forThe Cast Netis a small community, Alston Station, on the Edisto River near Charleston, SC. There really isn’t an Alston Station, but there should be! The town is named after Joseph Alston, a former governor of South Carolina, who was married to Theodosia Burr Alston. (She was the daughter of Aaron Burr. You may recall he shot Alexander Hamilton in a duel.) Theodosia disappeared on a voyage from Georgetown, SC, to New York. Theodosia’s fate is compared to that of a character in The Cast Net, Elise Heath.

3. Why do I write what I do?

I enjoy mystery / suspense stories with a twist. I’m a huge fan of Alfred Hitchcock who was the master of suspense movies. As a child, I believe my interests were shaped by several exciting stories, Caroline and herFriends, The Box Car Children, and The Adventures of Jonny Quest. All three of these children’s classics deal with young people who are daring, take risks, and handle situations that are often dangerous. The heroes and heroines bravely take on responsibilities that most people would run from. I’m certain that The Adventures of Jonny Quest influenced me to become an airline pilot and travel many parts of the world.

4. How does my writing process work?

I had the idea for The Cast Netin my head for many years before I actually sat down and wrote the novel. When I finally had time to write the book, I researched the location I was writing about. For The CastNet, which is set in the Charleston and Edisto areas of South Carolina, I read at least twenty-five history books to make sure I got the details correct. While I was doing the research for The Cast Net, I came up with the idea for Catherine’s Cross which I wrote in less than a year. Knowing the history of an area, gives me ideas for my stories and helps with character creation and development. I like to intertwine actual history with fiction I create.

As part of the blog tour and would like to discuss two authors that I think very highly of and enjoy their work. The first author, Julia Allcut, is a friend of mine and the leader of the writer’s group I participate in. We have a lot of fun and constructively critique each others’ work. Julia is the author of a Christian spy novel entitled, The Good Spy Wife. Julia’s web address: http://www.christianspynovels.com/

The Good Spy Wifeis a story of aging FBI agent, Gunter Martini, astold by his wife, Bootsie. The saga begins with her suspicions that the next-door neighbor, Alexander, is a Russian agent. The reader is drawn into the drama as the story explodes along with the cigarette boat when Gunter dares to venture out for a boat ride to Bomb Island on the 50,000 acres Lake Murray on the night of an impending hurricane. His drowning is dubious, as no body floats to the surface. The wife trusts in God and believes that he is alive. When he reappears later in the Soviet Union he invites his wife to join him as he works toward an assignment involving the elimination of the American president, as the Soviet country believes the President of the United States and his democratic ideals stand in the way of progress for the Soviet Union. He must die, as the current leadership in America is an affront for growth of the new Russia.

Set during the Cold War in the late 1980s, this novel follows Bootsie and Gunter as they struggle with separation during difficult times in their own marriage. Bootsie grows spiritually through the unexplained meeting of strangers who appear to her as angels, and through drawing on her own strengths when alone. Ultimately, after many twists and turns of the story, the couple realizes that God is the only help for the frailty of their lives, and each makes plans to rebuild his or her life around their new beliefs. However, will this turn out to be the happy conclusion? One can only discover this knowledge through reading the book.

Another friend in my writer’s group is Edith Hawkins. Like Jackie and me, she is a Boutique of Quality Books author. Not only is she a talented writer, but she is a wonderful gardener. We explored an orchid growers facility together, and I learned about these exotic plants. Edith’s orchids survive and flourish. Mine didn’t make it.

Edith has written a wonderful children’s book about the adventures of Kate and JR. Here’s a bit about Edith and her story.

As a retired medical laboratory technologist, Edith Hawkins is pursuing her love of photography, gardening and writing children’s stories. Her first book entitled “Summer Adventures with Kate andJR” was released by BQB Publishing in May 2013. Edith has enjoyed sharing stories from the book with school age children at local elementary schools. She also enjoyed meeting people of all ages as she sold the book along with greeting cards made from her photo collection of flowers, butterflies, beach sunrises, Canadian geese on the lake, and anything nature has to offer during the summer farmers market. Edith is a member of the Chapin Writers Group, the Newberry Master Gardener Association, and Macedonia Lutheran Church where she teaches the four and five year old kindergarten class.

Summer Adventures with Kate & JR

Do you like to play with friends in your backyard? Go on a vacation with your parents to the beach? Visit and spend time with your grandparents? Kate and JR do! Share in their adventures, as Kate the older sister and JR the younger brother find that learning new things from adults can be fun. That being patient is hard work. But, the end results are worth the wait.

Summer Adventures with Kate & JR is a collection of stories to be shared by children, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. The stories relate the special bond that forms when a garden is planted, a handmade toy car takes shape, scrapes of material turn into a beautiful quilt, fish are caught, the beach is a great place for a vacation, and just a simple walk in the woods can be exciting.